Overview / Current Conditions Topics

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The AQI is an index for reporting daily air quality. It tells you how clean or polluted your air is, and what associated health effects might be a concern for you. The AQI focuses on health effects you may experience within a few hours or days after breathing polluted air. EPA calculates the AQI for five major air pollutants regulated by the Clean Air Act: ground-level ozone, particle pollution (also known as particulate matter), carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide. For each of these pollutants, EPA has established national air quality standards to protect public health. (From EPA, 'AirNow'). Visit "AirNow" and learn more about EPA's AQI, air quality and human health at http://airnow.gov/.

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The Automated Surface Observing Systems (ASOS) program is a joint effort of the National Weather Service (NWS), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and the Department of Defense (DOD). The ASOS serves as the nation's primary surface weather observing network. ASOS is designed to support weather forecast activities and aviation operations and, at the same time, support the needs of the meteorological, hydrological, and climatological research communities. The following is near real-time data from the nearest available ASOS location.

Water Quality Topics

Explore general as well as scientific information about the movement, chemistry and biology of area surface water environments.

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The currently used bacterial indicators for recreational waters include total coliform, fecal coliform and enterococcus. Indicator organisms themselves are not necessarily pathogenic but their presence "indicates" or suggests recent contamination by human sewage or other waste which may result in human illness. Sources of contamination include storm water runoff, sewage overflows and feces from wild and domestic animals.

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Under section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act, states, territories, and authorized tribes are required to develop lists of impaired waters. These are waters that are too polluted or otherwise degraded to meet the water quality standards set by states, territories or authorized tribes. The law also requires these governments to list and develop a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for impaired waters. The TMDL is a calculation of the maximum amount of a pollutant that a waterbody can receive and still safely meet water quality standards. TMDL reports are important in understanding the extent of impairment and the actions that may be needed to eliminate impairment. The local plan to respond to the TMDL is called a Basin Management Action Plan (BMAP). Please note that the Impaired Waters Data listed on the Water Atlas is the most recent available data from FDEP, but it may not reflect the current FDEP impaired list. These data are updated when and as soon as they are made available from FDEP.

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"Trophic" means "relating to nutrition." The Trophic State Index (TSI) takes into account chlorophyll, nitrogen, and phosphorus, which are nutrients required by plant life. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) uses this information to determine a rating for the waterbody.

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Salinity measures the amount of salts dissolved in water. An estuary can exhibit a change in salinity throughout its length as fresh water entering from the tributaries mixes with seawater from the ocean.

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Water clarity or turbidity measures the degree to which light is blocked because the water is cloudy or contains suspended particles, such as algae. Water clarity is one indicator of a waterbody's ability to sustain plants and wildlife.

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The following data are summarized as seasonal average values for lake and river sampling locations located within the watershed. While these data are useful to serve as a general picture of watershed health, these data must be viewed with caution because these samples have been taken from ecologically different water resources.

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This is the latest available contour map of the lake's bottom. This map can be used to determine where "holes" (deep spots) exist on the lake bottom. Such areas are often productive for freshwater fishing.

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Southwest Florida Water Management District calculates the Aquifer Resource Indicator (ARI) for their three groundwater regions each month. The ARI was created to provide the public with a gauge of groundwater levels in their area, so they can develop an understanding of the severity and cycles of drought and recovery. The three regions include: North (Citrus, Hernando, Lake, Levy, Marion and Sumter counties), Central (Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas, and Polk counties), and South (Charlotte, DeSoto, Hardee, Highlands, Manatee, and Sarasota counties).

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The Florida Natural Areas Inventory is the primary source for information on Florida's conservation lands. The Inventory database includes boundaries and statistics for more than 1,400 federal, state, local, and private managed areas, all provided directly by the managing agencies. National parks, state forests, wildlife management areas, local and private preserves are examples of the managed areas included.

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Land Cover categorizes the land in terms of the observed physical surface characteristics. For example, while the land use may be classified as agricultural, the land cover may be classified as upland or wetland.

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Habitats and Ecology Topics

These pages provide a wealth of interesting general, as well as scientific, information about the myriad of habitats in the area and the creatures that dwell within them. Explore general as well as scientific information about the movement, chemistry and biology of area surface water environments.

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Vegetation sampling is the identification and quantification of plant species and communities. Vegetation sampling is a tool used in environmental assessments and can inform a myriad of assessment goals including biomass availability, water quality concerns, management benchmarks, and determining the introduction and establishment of invasive species. Sampling can be conducted via destructive or non-destructive methods.

Fish and Wildlife Topics

In addition to fisheries-independent and fisheries-dependent study results, find valuable information about endangered species, wild stock enhancement and other conservation measures related to fish, aquatic mammals and other aquatic wildlife.

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Some common birds in this region that you might see include - Great Blue Heron, Cattle Egret, Great Egret, White Ibis, Brown Pelican, Osprey, Wood Stork, Yellow-Crowned Night Heron, Bald Eagles and the endangered Florida Scrub-Jay.

Recreation Topics

The area provides some of the most diverse and abundant recreational environments and facilities in the U.S. Visit these pages and links and learn about their locations, trademark features and amenities, and regulations for their use.

Photos Topics

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Find or submit a photograph of the waterbodies, wildlife or activities concerning the areas included in this Water Atlas. Types of photographs include both color and black and white, historic and current.